taoism

The Jade Pure, the Most Pure, and the High Pure Realms represent three levels of enlightenment. To rise to the Jade Pure Realm is to attain wu-chi, the highest form of enlightenment. This is complete union with the Tao. To enter the Realm of the Great Pure is to exist in a state in which subject and object are differentiated but are integral parts of the Tao. It is a lesser form of enlightenment. To attain the Realm of the High Pure is to exist in harmony with nature and humanity, to live according to the laws of nature, and to embody the highest virtues of humanity. This is the lowest form of enlightenment.

Climbing Lushan The mountain looms firmly over the Great River. I climb four hundred bends to its green lush peak. With cool eyes I stare at the rim of mankind and the sea beyond. Hot wind blows rain in the sky and down to the river. Clouds over the nine tributaries and the floating yellow crane, where waves ripple toward the Three Wu. White mist flies up. Who knows where Tao, the ancient poet, has gone? Is he farming in the Land of the Peach Blossoms? July 1, 1959

Look, it cannot be seen -- it is beyond form. Listen, it cannot be heard -- it is beyond sound. Grasp, it cannot be held -- it is intangible. These three are indefinable; Therefore they are joined in one. From above it is not bright; From below it is not dark; An unbroken thread beyond description. It returns to nothingness. The form of the formless, The image of the imageless, It is called indefinable and beyond imagination. Stand before it and there is no beginning. Follow it and there is no end. Stay with the ancient Tao, Move with the present. Knowing the ancient beginning is the essence of Tao.

The Tao gives birth to One. One gives birth to yin and yang. Yin and yang give birth to all things. . . . The complete whole is the complete whole. So also is any part the complete whole. . . . But forget about understanding and harmonizing and making all things one. The universe is already a harmonious oneness; just realize it.

Though (the Tao) is uncreated itself, it creates all things. Because it has no substance, it can enter into where there is no space. Exercising by returning to itself, winning victories by remaining gentle and yielding, it is softer than anything, and therefore overcomes everything hard.

My own words are not the medicine, but a prescription; not the destination, but a map to help you reach it. When you get there, quiet your mind and close your mouth. Don't analyze the Tao. Strive instead to live it: silently, undividedly, with your whole harmonious being.

The world is full of half-enlightened masters. Overly clever, too "sensitive" to live in the real world, they surround themselves with selfish pleasures and bestow their grandiose teachings upon the unwary. Prematurely publicizing themselves, intent upon reaching some spiritual climax, they constantly sacrifice the truth and deviate from the Tao. What they really offer the world is their own confusion. The true master understands that enlightenment is not the end, but the means. Realizing that virtue is her goal, she accepts the long and often arduous cultivation that is necessary to attain it. She doesn't scheme to become a leader, but quietly shoulders whatever responsibilities fall to her. Unattached to her accomplishments, taking credit for nothing at all, she guides the whole world by guiding the individuals who come to her. She shares her divine energy with her students, encouraging them, creating trials to strengthen them, scolding them to awaken them, directing the streams of their lives toward the infinite ocean of the Tao.